Since it has been possible to directly observe the movement of individual biological samples, such as live (having activity) protein and nucleic acid, using an optical microscope, there has been adopted a method for examining the molecular-level functionality and activity of each biological sample primarily by means of optical microscope-based measurement. In order to identify individual molecules targeted for examination, a reagent composed of a fluorescent dye, a gold colloid or microparticles (polystyrene beads, magnetic bead, or the like) is attached to those molecules to visualize the presence of molecules having sizes invisible with the resolution of an optical microscope.
The above-described method requires a large-scale, expensive optical microscope, however. In addition, the method requires direct observation of the biological samples to count the presence thereof. The method thus has the problem of being not capable of conducting examinations at high speeds and with ease.
On the other hand, there is disclosed a detector for biological samples provided with a microchamber array including a plurality of storage sections for containing a biological sample, and a CMOS image sensor including picture elements disposed corresponding to the respective storage sections (see, for example, Non-Patent Literature 1).